La Jetée (1962) on Netflix
After World War III, survivors live underground in Paris. Scientists research time travel and choose a prisoner whose childhood memory of a woman at Orly Airport is his key to the past.
- Netflix3.1/5
- IMDb8.2/1040,244 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes93%
Trailer
Plot summary
World War III has left the surface of Paris radioactive, and the survivors live underground in the galleries of the Palais de Chaillot, where the victors hold power and the prisoners live at their mercy. Scientists there research time travel, hoping to learn from other eras what might heal the present, but they struggle to find subjects who can withstand the shock. They settle on one prisoner whose vague memory from before the war holds a strong pull for him: as a child at Orly Airport he saw a woman on the observation platform, shortly before an incident he did not understand.
Cast
- Jacques Branchu
- Étienne Becker
- Philbert von Lifchitz
- Janine Kleinas A woman from the future
Show all 13 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about La Jetée (1962)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- La Jetée is made almost entirely of still photographs: the only moving footage is about 4 seconds of a woman's mouth opening and, 20 seconds later, about 6 seconds of her eyes opening and blinking, because Chris Marker could only afford to hire a motion-picture camera for one afternoon.
- Terry Gilliam's 1995 film 12 Monkeys was inspired by La Jetée and takes several concepts directly from it, acknowledging the debt in its opening credits.
- Sigue Sigue Sputnik's 1989 video for the single "Dancerama" is an homage to La Jetée, and the film was also one of the influences on David Bowie's 1993 video for "Jump They Say".
- The Northern Irish band Two Door Cinema Club screened La Jetée at the launch party for their 2016 album Gameshow, whose final track, "Je viens de la", is inspired by the film and describes the journey of its protagonist.
